Are the Rattlers REALLY the Fireflies? - The Last of Us Part 2 Analysis

[Music] and II burkowski here for vgs continuing my analysis of the last of us part 2 today i'm trying to answer a pretty fundamental question about the ending of the game i've received dozens of comments and theories on the relationship between the Rattlers a slave trading gang led by fat Geralt and the fireflies one of the most formative factions in this entire game series many of you have suggested that the fireflies are in fact destroyed by the end of the game and when a bee does make contact with the group over shortwave radio in Santa Barbara it's actually a trick by the Rattlers to entrap more slaves for their slave pens these two lines in particular from different characters at different times have been brought up again and again as proof for this theory we got a clear signal on you we're in Santa Barbra you calling from 24:25 constants we got a tip about a base but there's no one here we're looking for fireflies how do we find you get to Catalina Island approach the large domes building an Avalon will find you ok ok we'll see you soon over now looking forward to it good luck Abby from Santa Barbara she's in a holding cell in our camp where is that and that wait till you hit the wrong track I do understand why it seems compelling a be here mentions her location there's hesitation from the voice on the radio when she does they're then told to go to a large dome building in Avalon when Ellie confronts fat Geralt he says their base is in a resort that's also a tall round building which Ellie eventually discovers you can see it here as she's clearly searching for a be adding to the fact that the Rattlers had a trap set ready for a bee right after that call I can really understand why some of you would think it's all an elaborate trick here is why I disagree the call itself from the beginning of it until a bee and love get jumped by Rattlers outside is less than two minutes even if the guy on the other end of the radio did call his rattler crew to grab them there's no way they could get there in that time also why keep access to this radio hidden if they really did want to lure people to call in why not keep the door open and make it an open trap I think it's much more plausible that the noise that Abbie and love made taking out infected previously and the noisily opening that garage door would alert Rattlers that are in the area which we know are there from Ellie's trip in Santa Barbara where they're monitoring for strays now by no means is this definitive so let's take a look at the dialogue the fireflies claim to have a base at the round building at Avalon some cursory googling led me to this building the real-life Catalina casino as shown here it's located off the coast of Catalina Island the large resort building mentioned by fat Geralt is a building that infiltrates in the game she sees it here and then ends up inside we are in Santa Barbara were not on Catalina Island there's no possible way that Ellie somehow ended up on this island without us knowing about it furthermore if you consider the end of the game after Ellie decides not to kill Abby she and Lev put her off in a boat into the darkness they're heading to Catalina Island where they supposed fireflies are Abby and Liv have survived this long why wouldn't they go back inland where their boats guns food everything they need to survive unless they believed the fireflies were still out there once you do beat the game I think this theory is cemented the main menu scream changes you see now what it looks like the Catalina casino in Avalon off the coast of Catalina Island suggesting that Abby and Lev did in fact get there where the fireflies may be even comparing the two buildings the one Ellie sees that was identified by fat Geralt proves I think pretty definitively that these two buildings are very different and therefore the Rattlers were not the fireflies on the radio I will admit the similarities between the two descriptions are stupid similar I think it might have been a remnants of a former story idea creative director Neil druckmann has mentioned in recent interviews that the Santa Barbara storyline was severely cuts with much more planned content that we were supposed to play either way I'm very confident that this is not the case of a secret plot by slavers and instead just a byproduct of some poor narrative design but I'm hoping now that if you live in this area in real life if you're familiar with Catalina islands and know of these two locations speak up in the comments because I really would like to pin down this particular theory because the ramifications of it are pretty huge if the fireflies are dead this becomes an even more nihilistic and upsetting ending for a bee and lab so if you're familiar with these locations do speak up again my only familiarity with Catalina Island is from movies like this [Applause] [Music] [Applause]

Channel: VGS - Video Game Sophistry

Views: 297,752

Keywords: vgs, video game sophistry, last of us part 2, the last of us part 2, the last of us 2, last of us 2 story, vgs the last of us part 2, the last of us part 2 fire flies, the last of us part 2 fireflies, the last of us part 2 abby fireflies, the last of us 2 rattlers fireflies, the last of us 2 rattlers trick, the last of us part 2 abby ending, the last of us 2 fireflies ending, the last of us 2 ending

Id: QtlYL8pMPB4

Length: 6min 42sec (402 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 08 2020